What A Nightmare!
by arrasails1977
Summary: Story 3 in my 'His Witchy Woman' series. This one is a bit different and is a crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street.


What a Nightmare

"OK, Giles, so what's the biggie?" this came from Buffy as she sat down on Giles' couch, accompanied by Xander, Anya and Spike. Willow was already there.

"Ah, I'm glad you're all here. I've been looking through the Melouige Texts and have found something concerning the Slayer. I have investigated it and it concerns a town in Ohio called Springwood. It says that in the first year of the new Millennium, the Slayer will go to Springwood and face the Morpheus demon who resides there."

Xander and Buffy each had a blank look on their faces as the others nodded knowledgeably. Buffy and Xander looked at each other. "OK," said Xander meditatively. "I was with you up to the Morpheus bit. Who or what was Morpheus? Some big demon- thingy?" he questioned.

"Morpheus," answered Giles, not surprised that Xander didn't know who he was, "was in ancient Greek mythology, the God of Dreams."

"OK," said Buffy. "We get that. But what does that have to do with Springwood?"

"The reason Willow is here is that I asked her to surf the Internet looking for any references to Springwood. She was about to tell me of your findings when you all arrived." He looked in askance to where Willow sat at his table, her laptop in front of her.

"Well, it's interesting," she replied, looking at the image on the screen in front of her. "There are a lot of instances of teenagers dying – by either natural or not so natural causes. It seems to have started in the '70's. There were a spate of killings – little kids going missing, then turning up dead."

"So, is this killer still on the loose then?" asked Xander, frowning. If there was one thing he couldn't abide, it was child murderers.

Willow shook her head. "No. Originally, that's what I thought. But I looked further and after about 6 months, they caught the killer. It was a guy who lived in town – married with a daughter of his own. His name was…Fred Krueger," she added, scrolling down the screen. "He used to take them to a boiler room at a factory in the middle of nowhere, and then…" she trailed off, upset. "He was caught though; I believe daughter found something and told somebody and she was taken into care. Unfortunately, he was released on a technicality; needless to say, the town people were not happy with that, so they tracked him down to his boiler room and torched it while he was in there."

"So what are you saying?" asked Anya, not sure what this had to do with her and Xander. They had been planning to go out of town for the weekend, but a call from Library-Guy had most likely put paid to that.

Giles shook his head. "I'm not sure what has happened, but given the prophecy as well, it looks most possible this could be related. I have been in touch with a friend I went to school with in England, but had lost touch with until recently, Maggie Burroughs. But also, surprisingly enough, it appears that she is Krueger's daughter."

Anya clasped her hands in her lap and said, "So, what now? Are we going on a trip to boring old Ohio? I'll have you know that Xander and I have plans this weekend so we won't be able to go. We wouldn't be much help anyway," she added hurriedly seeing Buffy was about to open her mouth.

Giles interrupted before Buffy could say something she wouldn't regret later to the ex-demon. "I think we will need everybody on this one. When I spoke to Maggie, she said that there have been more murders and disappearances lately. We shall leave tomorrow if no one has any objections. Yes, we've all heard your objections, Anya," he added quickly as the ex-vengeance demon opened her mouth. "We may need your assistance, and Xander's military experience might come in handy with what we may find."

"Well, at least we won't get lost there," said Anya. "I mean, with Commando-Guy with us," she indicated Riley, "we wouldn't be too far from where he lives," she added.

Riley grimaced and said, "I come from Iowa, not Ohio, Anya."

"Aren't they the same thing?" she asked dismissively.

"Why am I here?" interrupted Spike. "Just 'cause some brats are dying – and not by my hand, I might add – is no reason for me to go jetting off to "Sunny Springwood". I've got other things to do here. And so does Willow," he added, putting a hand on her shoulder. She covered his with her own and looked at him beseechingly. He grumbled under his breath for a moment, and then cried out defensively, "Alright bugger it, we'll come along. As long as nothing dangerous happens; I'm not having Willow hurt again," he added threateningly.

It had been a year since she had returned to them, following the Chalera incident and he had hardly let Willow out of his sight since.

Buffy, Giles and especially Xander had been extremely 'wigged' as the younger people put it, when they had first found out. Xander for one was still slightly unnerved when he saw the open affection between the blond vampire and his best friend, but Buffy and Giles were in fact quite friendly with him now.

Giles frowned at Xander as the younger man put his hand up to his mouth, a pseudo-cough covering as he said, "whipped" under his breath. Spike growled at him and Xander looked away hurriedly.

Giles smirked and said, "We leave at 1.30 tomorrow afternoon. I believe from what Willow has told me, the protection spell she cast on Spike will enable him to move around freely in the daylight."

Buffy groaned and stood up. "Ohio, here we come!"

Part Two

They got off the plane at Springwood Airport the following evening; Giles having arranged the meeting place the night before with Maggie over the telephone.

Spike picked up his and Willow's bags at the check in and grinned smugly. He looked over at Xander; the younger man was looking decidedly the worse for wear, his skin slightly tinged green. "So, Xander, are you ready for that big juicy hamburger? You want Mayo on that?" he added, grinning unrepentantly at Xander as he rushed to the nearest bathroom, glaring hatefully at Spike, Anya following to help her sick boyfriend.

Spike shot an innocent "what did I do?" look at Willow as she slapped him lightly on the arm.

They carried their luggage over to the checkout, luckily none of them being examined too closely, considering the small arsenal Buffy, Spike, Riley and Giles were carrying in their luggage.

"So, Giles, where are we staying?" asked Buffy, looking sympathetically to where Xander and Anya joined them, the former very subdued.

"I believe that Maggie has booked us some rooms just outside town. She said she would meet us here to show us the way," he added musingly, looking at his watch. He looked around for Maggie and spotted a dark haired woman coming toward them.

"Ripper!" She approached him and hugged him affectionately. "It's been a long time, Ripper," she said, smiling. She was just over average height with long straight black hair. She wore a feminine grey suit and exuded confidence. She suddenly stopped smiling. "I hope you came prepared Rupert. I think this is going to be a big job."

Giles cleared his throat and introduced them to his old friend. "Maggie, this is Buffy, Willow, Xander, Riley, Anya and Spike. Everyone, this is Maggie Burroughs." They all said 'hi'.

"I've booked you all into the Matthews Arms, a hotel just outside town," Maggie said, preceding them outside the airport, to where a mini-van was waiting. They piled their luggage into the back, then got into the car, Maggie driving and Giles getting into the front passenger seat.

They arrived at their hotel an hour later. Maggie went to the check-in desk and spoke quietly to the man sat there, while the others looked around them.

The hotel looked quite modern – it was probably about twenty years old. There was a lounge to the left of them, with chairs and a big open fireplace, which at the moment wasn't lit. There were lights on there, though, so they moved their luggage over to the lounge and sat down while Maggie dealt with their check-in details.

"So what happens now?" asked Buffy, staring around her. It was just gone 7.30 and she was feeling decidedly hungry.

"Now, you all have a meal, go to your rooms and get a good night's rest while you can," answered Maggie, having concluded her conversation with the clerk. She held a bunch of keys in her hand. "Once you get into the Springwood city limits, a good night's sleep will be a thing of the past. This is why you're staying here, outside of town."

Xander frowned, curious. "What? We won't be able to sleep? I'll have you know, I have never had a problem with insomnia in my life. If anything, it's sometimes hard to wake up of a morning," he added, an understatement.

Maggie shook her head. "Insomnia won't be the problem. If you want to stay alive, you'd better _not_ go to sleep."

Giles looked at her, mystified. "Maggie, don't you think you had better tell us what is going on? All we know is that there is a prophecy concerning the Slayer, and that a lot of teenagers may or may not have been murdered. I think we need more information about this," he insisted.

Maggie smiled ruefully. "You never change, Ripper. You always were impatient. The best thing to do would be for you all to get a good night's rest and we'll have a talk in the morning," she persisted.

Willow stood up and said, "I don't think there is anything to be gained from standing here arguing. I think we should do as Maggie suggested," she added, smiling when Spike stood up and nodded his agreement.

Buffy nodded her assent. They all stood up to take their luggage to their rooms and made their way to the stairs, having received their keys from Maggie as they passed her.

Maggie stopped Buffy as she passed her to tell her that she would be back in the morning to pick them up.

"OK, we'll be ready," she replied.

"OK, I'll see you all at 8.30 then. Pleasant dreams," she added. She left the hotel after a last look at the group as they ascended the staircase. This was going to be interesting.

They were all waiting in the lounge the next morning at exactly 8.30. They had had a lovely night's sleep, including Spike. Over the last year, following the casting of Willow's protection spell, he had grown into the habit of sleeping at night and staying awake during the day. "So when does Mad Maggie appear then, Rupes?" he asked, holding Willow's hand and needling Giles.

Giles shot him a filthy look. There was nobody – other than maybe Xander – who could vex the Watcher as much as Spike could. He sometimes thought that the vampire had perfected his needling techniques to an art form since the chip had been implanted.

"She said 8.30," he replied, biting back the real response he wanted to give.

"And speak of the devil," interrupted Riley.

Maggie walked into the lounge, wearing a grey suit, her hair styled into a neat chignon at the base of her skull.

"Are we all ready?" she asked. "I'm going to take you all to my office for the discussion."

They go to Maggie's office a half-hour later. There weren't many people about; in fact it seemed almost deserted. Buffy looked at Maggie and mentioned it, the older woman stating, "You'll find a lot of that in Springwood. People don't stay here long once the bad things start happening."

"OK, Maggie, do you want to fill us in now?" asked Giles, sitting on one of the couches in the office.

Maggie walked across to the closed blinds and pulled them open. She took a seat on her desk and took a deep breath. "As Rupert told me, you have found some information yourselves?" she asked.

Willow nodded. "Yes, we found out that Fred Krueger killed some kids back in the seventies in Springwood." She stopped, realising uncomfortably that she was talking about Maggie's father.

Maggie smiled sadly, guessing what Willow was thinking. "Don't worry, I'm over that." She began pacing. "You know how the story started then? About Freddy killing the children of the town?" When they nodded, she continued. "Well, any normal story would have ended there. But he made a deal with some dream demons and they made him immortal. He could then attack people in their dreams; and if he kills you in your dreams, you die for real." She stopped, sure that the only person stood before her who would believe her would be Rupert. She was shocked, to say the least, when Buffy spoke up determinedly and said, "So, what do we do to kick this demon guy's ass?"

Maggie looked at the group before her, surprised. "You have no problems with any of this, do you?" she asked.

Xander piped up, saying nonchalantly, "Oh, this seems to be a day in the park compared to some of the squiggly demons we have faced in the past. We can deal. The Buffster is the Chosen One and all that," he added, nodding.

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "Chosen One? You're the Slayer?" She looked in accusation at Giles. "Rupert, why didn't you tell me this? I would have called on you before this – when it all started happening." She was getting very agitated as she spoke.

"Well, secret identity thing going on there. He can't tell everyone. It's breaking the Watcher's Code, or something," Willow interrupted, defending Giles.

Maggie took a deep breath. "No, I apologise. I shouldn't have said that. It's just that…" she stopped, choked and unable to continue.

Giles frowned, concerned. He went over to Maggie as she sat slumped dejectedly on the desk. "What is it, Maggie? What happened?" he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

She took a deep breath and looked at him, tears in her eyes. "If I had been able to call on you before, my son might still be alive. Freddy…killed him…" she said, trying not to break down completely.

They looked at her, horrified. Buffy looked at Giles, who looked as though he had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. She watched as he swallowed a few times then spoke croakily. "What? How?" She noticed how he never took his eyes from Maggie as he stumbled to the chair by the desk and sat down heavily. "How did it happen?"

Maggie sniffed, not looking him in the eye. "He said that he'd been dreaming about a scary man, and that he'd tried to cut him while he was asleep. I suppose I didn't want to believe that Freddy could possibly be back. I mean, I killed him. So, he took my son from me."

It was obvious she wasn't going to say anything else. Buffy looked around her, from Willow's horrified expression, to Xander and Anya's uncomfortable ones, to Spike's shocked one, thinly concealed with a mask of disinterest. She glanced again at Giles, who by now was almost catatonic. She and her Watcher were going to have a talk when she got him alone.

"OK, so what do we do?" she asked, uncomfortable at stepping on the grieving parent's toes.

Maggie took a deep breath, her eyes red-rimmed. "Last time, I went into the dream world and bought him out, so we could kill him."

"Who's 'we'?" asked Spike, aghast by the psychologist's story despite himself.

"A patient of mine, Tracey and my colleague, Dr Winston helped me to defeat Freddy. When I bought him out of my dream I was able to kill him," she added, glad to be thinking of something other that her son, Danny. "I thought, with Rupert being into the supernatural, we should be able to stop him."

Xander shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "There shouldn't be any problem. Buffy's the Chosen One. She's dealt with worse stuff than this before."

Maggie shook her head emphatically. "You shouldn't underestimate Freddy. He's been 'killed' many times before but he always returns to exact his revenge."

"That may be, but I'm sure we'll make short shrift of this Krueger guy," answered Xander, not too worried.

"So what do we do now?" asked Giles, still pale.

"Well, the best thing would be to go into a group hypnosis session. You have to remember though, that Freddy will try to separate us – we are stronger together – so we need to make sure we stay that way – together," Maggie insisted, not looking Giles in the eye.

"When are we going to this?" asked Willow, nervous, but wanting to get it done.

"There's no time like the present," stated Buffy decisively.

Maggie felt a moment's misgivings. Should she have bought this group of young people into this problem? "I don't know…" she trailed off, suddenly unsure.

"No, Maggie. We should do what you asked us here to do," said Giles harshly.

As the others looked at him in surprise, Maggie just looked at him with a sad expression. We are definitely going to talk, thought Buffy, seeing the enmity passing between the two older members of the group.

"We should sit in a circle. I'll close the blinds," said Maggie, doing so.

Willow sat next to Spike, holding his hand. Anya and Xander followed suit, the latter grimacing slightly in distaste at the former couple's 'bonding'. Xander would never get over the fact that his best friend – his Willow – was in a relationship with a demon and he knew the time would come when Spike would slip up. Xander disregarded the fact that his own girlfriend was an _ex_-vengeance demon.

Buffy went to sit next to Riley, when Giles got there before her so that he wouldn't have to take the seat next to Maggie. Buffy huffed as she took the only vacant seat. "Geez, Giles, push in much?" she grumbled under her breath, glaring at him when he ignored her. She looked at the others who had also noticed his strange behaviour. Willow and Xander shrugged at her simultaneously, mystified.

"So what method are we going to use?" asked Anya. "The old 'look into my eyes, you are very sleepy' shtick?" she suggested sarcastically, still not happy to be there, when she should be sunning herself on a beach in Cancun.

"I thought the best method would be to look at this," answered Maggie, going over towards a small pendulum-like piece of equipment standing on her desk. She started it moving and switched on a small light hidden behind the pendulum. "You should all relax, allow every part of your body to relax, fingers, toes, everything; concentrate on this light. See only the light," she added, moving back to her chair.

She looked around her at the group surrounding her, noticing that they were all looking decidedly sleepy. She looked at the light herself and felt herself growing sleepier and sleepier…

She woke up when Buffy nudged her on the shoulder. "Well, doc, looks like it worked, unless your office has taken on the guise of an evil Hell-place," she added jokingly.

Maggie looked around her and saw Spike helping Willow up off the ground where she had found herself after falling asleep. Maggie grasped Buffy's hand as she helped her up from the ground, brushing dust from the seat of her trousers.

She looked around them at their environs. They were surrounded by what seemed to be dark caverns, dripping with dark green slimy-looking moss.

"Well, I have to say, so far this looks just like Sunnydale on any night," said Xander teasingly.

All of a sudden there was a loud screeching noise, which could be heard by all of them.

"What was that?" asked Xander, freaked.

Maggie went pale and said just one word; "Freddy."

"Well, we're here, so we may as well get slaying, huh?" asked Buffy, clenching and unclenching her fists, preparing for a fight.

"Come on then, lets find him, then maybe Xander and I can still get in some sunbathing in Cancun," suggested Anya.

The screeching began again, the sound echoing around in their cavernous surroundings. Another sound followed it that sounded like the sobbing of a crying child. Willow moved tentatively toward the sound. "What was that?" she asked herself under her breath. She moved around the rock-face where the sound appeared to be coming from, but there was nothing there.

"There's nothing…oh!" she finished as she was grabbed from behind.

"Willow!" shouted Spike, approaching quickly.

Willow grasped the hand, which was tightening around her throat, trying to release the crushing grip.

"Well, well, well; what have we here?"

Maggie ran up quickly. "Freddy, let her go!" she demanded angrily.

Freddy made a mockingly shocked expression. "Why Maggie. Come to visit dear old daddy, have we? I thought you would have been by before this," he added, absently rubbing his hand sensuously around Willow's neck. "She's so sweet - Willow, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

They watched, horrified as he lifted his right hand - the one with the knives - and ran his palm up one of Willow's arms. "Ow," Willow cried out as he scratched her slightly with his index finger-knife.

Spike growled, leaping unexpectedly at Freddy.

"Spike, no!" the others cried. Freddy released Willow abruptly and turned toward Spike as he rushed him. Spike stopped suddenly and looked surprised as he looked down at his chest. Freddy, as he approached, had clawed his chest with his finger-knives.

He fell to the floor as Willow escaped Buffy's hold, as she tried to hold her back. She knelt down beside Spike, taking his limp hand in hers, crying. She cried out in pain as Freddy suddenly grabbed her by the hair, pulling her away from the still vampire's un-breathing body.

"Is this the best that you can do?" he sneered at Maggie. "Bringing children here? Mmmm, I was starting to feel a little hungry. How about a little soul-food?" he asked, turning Willow suddenly. He was about to stab her with his knives when somebody grasped him roughly by his shoulder. He spun round and was stunned to see a very pissed off Spike looking at him.

"No, this is NOT possible," he denied desperately. "You should be dead now. I just killed you!" he added, almost crying at the thought that he was losing his touch.

"Yes, you're right, a human would have been dead now," Spike replied, grasping Freddy by the front of his red and green sweater. "But then," he added, his features turning into their natural, demonic visage, "I haven't been human for a long time."

As Freddy's eyes widened in shock, Spike suddenly picked Freddy up and threw him at the jagged rock face with as much vampiric strength that he could muster.

Freddy lay there for a moment, stunned. This shouldn't be happening to him, he thought. He flinched as Spike approached him, Buffy following close behind. They both lifted him up and held him as Maggie and the others approached.

Maggie looked at him with disgust written plainly on her face. "Why?" she asked hoarsely. "Why did you kill my son?"

Despite being surrounded by the group of people - each of them looking as though they would like to rip him apart – Freddy grinned nastily and said four simple words; "Because he was yours."

Maggie's lips thinned and she reached into her pocket, pulling out what was concealed there. Freddy's eyes flickered slightly as they lingered on the object in her hand. "What do you think that'll do to me?" he scoffed.

Maggie looked at the small object she held and held it up. It was small and spherical in shape. It glowed with a deep red light. "I cam prepared this time. I did my research. I can trap you in this ball, and once there, you will never escape. You will be there for all eternity," she spat at him.

He didn't look concerned. "Yes Maggie, I recognise it. But I don't think you're willing to do what's needed to trap me there."

Maggie ignored him and started chanting in an indecipherable language. Freddy looked at her in horror. "No! You can't do this to me!" He strained against the hands holding him, but to no avail. "No! Don't let her do this. I cannot be defeated! I am eternal!" he cried.

Maggie carried on, undeterred. "Zen di, ma descriet sham un settupter!" She screamed the last word, taking a sharp knife out of her other pocket, lifting it suddenly and plunging it into her own stomach as she did so.

"No!" Freddy and Giles shouted at the same time. Maggie fell to the floor, blood pouring from the wound in her abdomen. Giles rushed to her as lights surrounded Freddy, Buffy and Spike.

"Get away from him," Maggie coughed at the Slayer and Vampire. As the lights turned to smoke and shadows, Spike and Buffy did as she said, jumping out of the way as unseen hands grabbed Freddy and he was absorbed inside the spherical object which Maggie had dropped as she stabbed herself.

"Nooo!" shouted Freddy as he disappeared into the red ball.

Giles crouched beside Maggie, holding her hand much as Willow had Spike's moments before. "Why?" he asked. "Why did you do this?"

She coughed, blood pouring from her lips. "It was the only way to trap him in the Sphere. There had to be a pouring of blood of a family member. Since I'm the only one here, it had to be me," she said.

He looked at Willow with tears in his eyes as she took Maggie's hand in hers and closed her eyes. She began to chant, placing a hand over Maggie's wound. A beige glow surrounded them both and Maggie opened her eyes, sitting up suddenly. "What happened? Why am I not dead?" she asked.

Willow looked at her and smiled tiredly as she leaned back into Spike's embrace. "Just a little something I've been working on. It just takes a lot out of me," she said as she slumped in Spike's arms. He lifted her off her feet and said, "OK, so how do we get out of here then, Doc? Nothing personal, but I prefer Sunnyhell any day."

She smiled as Buffy helped her up, Giles having moved from her side when she recovered. "All you have to do is want to be back there. And then you will be."

They all closed their eyes and when they opened them, they were back in Maggie's office. "OK then," Buffy said, stretching. "I say we head on back to the inn and we'll make a move back for Sunnydale."

They all followed her out, saying their goodbyes to Maggie as they went. Giles stayed behind for a moment and looked at Maggie. She looked at her hands and said quietly, "Where do we go from here?"

Giles looked at her in silence for a moment. Then, "I don't think I can talk to you at the moment, Maggie." He didn't wait for a response, instead moving toward the door. He looked back at her and said quietly, "You should have told me. He was my son as well." He turned away from her and walked away down the corridor.

Maggie put a hand up to her head, tears falling unheeded down her face.

END.


End file.
